ATWT September 2010
by tldreams
Summary: What happened in Oakdale after September 17, 2010.  Chapter 3 now up.
1. Chapter 1

Note: On September 17, 2010, we were told that the cameras shut off in the town of Oakdale, Illinois and the reality show known as "As The World Turns" ended its record-breaking run. However, the inhabitants of that fair city didn't notice the absence of the crew. They kept right on living their daily triumphs, tribulations and tragedies. I hope to share with you some of these goings-on. It's time to set the record straight. (Cue Music and Opening Titles)

**SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 episode**

"You'd think there was something in the water, with the way everyone's acting around this town," said Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi to her friend, Barbara Ryan Stenbeck St. Clair Munson Dixon Montgomery Coleman, over lunch at the Lakeview. "With the exception of you and Henry, I swear the whole town has gone loco. Look at Ole' Lucy and Johnny Boy." She nodded her head in their direction, where Lucinda and John were drinking champagne and snuggling in the Lakeview lounge. "Acting like they're teenagers. At their age." She glared at them.

Barbara smiled coyly. She knew that it stuck in Lisa's craw that Lucinda Walsh had landed John Dixon and was parading him around under Lisa's nose every chance she got. "I don't understand why they're staying here. Lucinda has a mansion that they can live in. And if they get tired of that, they can go rough it in the pool house for a while."

Lisa shrugged. "At least she pays her bills." She straightened up in her seat. "Enough about them. Tell me what's new with you over at Metro. And may I add that I'm delighted you would come over to the competition," she looked around the Lakeview, "for lunch."

Barbara laughed. "For my oldest friend, I would do just about anything! " She took a swig of her wine and grinned at Lisa. "I love Metro and I love working with Henry. I couldn't be happier!"

Lisa grabbed Barbara's hand and squeezed it. "That's wonderful, Barbara. I'm so happy for you." Lisa raised her glass. "I propose a toast to you and Henry and Metro. May you find great success and happiness." They clinked glasses. "I have to say I'm still shocked that you'd give up BRO like that. I was just thinking the other day, I should be scheduling BRO's trunk show, and then I remembered, oh no, I can't. I miss the beautiful clothes you designed. You had quite a following at Fashions."

Barbara gave Lisa a tight smile. "I know, but I felt like it was time to devote more of my life to the people I love most and to working with Henry at Metro. I'm only one person. "

"I know. It was just wishful thinking. Pay me no mind!"

Barbara's phone rang. "Excuse me, Lisa." She opened the phone up and held it to her ear. "Henry!" Barbara beamed from head to toe. "I was missing you already…oh….really? Everything ok?...Oh, I'll be there in a few minutes." She closed the phone and threw it in her purse, as she stood up from the table. "Lisa, I'm so sorry, but I really need to go." She kissed Lisa's cheek.

"Is everything alright?"

"I don't know. I'll call you. I've got to run." And Barbara fled the hotel as Lisa looked on in bewilderment.

*******  
>Lily was in the kitchen pouring herself a cup of tea when Ethan came bursting into the room with Holden right behind him. "Mom! We went riding this morning and Elmo let me hold him! And he didn't scratch once!"<p>

Lily hugged her son. "That's wonderful! I know you've been trying to tame that kitten for the past two weeks."

"Do you think I can bring him home?"

Lily was a bit thrown by this request. "Don't you think he'd be happier out on the farm, with all the other animals, including his mommy?"

Ethan thought about this for a moment or two. "No. I think he'd be happier here with us."

Holden laughed. "Hold on there, Ethan. He's too little to take away from his mama. Why don't we all think about it for a while and talk about it another time."

In the way that only four year olds can quickly shift gears, Ethan agreed, "Ok! I think I'll go play a computer game" and he ran out of the kitchen to go upstairs to his room.

Lily laughed. "Thank you. I'm not sure I'm ready to have a kitten around here. I'd like him to be a little older before he gets a pet. Otherwise, it will all fall on me."

Holden smiled. "I know. And at the end of the day, I think he's more excited about his computer games, at least right now."

Lily crossed her arms and hugged herself as she sighed. "Holden, have you seen Luke lately?"

"A week or so ago. Why?"

Lily sat down at the table with her tea. "I don't know. I'm still very worried about him. He's very quiet, withdrawn. He doesn't eat much and I think he's lost a lot of weight. He looks really tired, and he's working himself to death between the Foundation, Grimaldi Shipping and planning the new wing at Memorial. I don't know what to do."

Holden slipped into a seat beside her at the table. "I'm not sure there's anything that you or I can do, except love him and be there for him." He sighed. "Luke is a very sensitive soul and his heart has been broken quite badly. And you know that everyone is different about how they handle such grief."

"I know. I guess I'm still astonished that I never noticed that he was so in love with Doctor Oliver. I mean, I knew that he was attracted to him, but…."

"I didn't know that they were in love, either, but they were, and this is going to take time, Lily. We need to keep as close as we can to him." He looked down. "I wish there was more that I could do or say."

Lily frowned. "Me too."

Holden tried to brighten up. "I think I'll call him and ask him to help me check the fences out at Mama's this afternoon. He used to love to do that when he was little, and it would be good to spend some time with him, just the two of us."

Lily looked gratefully at Holden. "I think that's a good idea, the two of you together."

Holden stood up. "I've got to go. Let me know if you see any changes in Luke, especially if you think he's getting worse. We need to be vigilant. I don't want him feeling so desperate and lonely that he'd…"

Lily nodded. "I know. I got rid of all the alcohol around here a month ago."

Holden nodded. "Good. No use putting temptation out there for him when he's so sad and depressed." He turned to go. "And thanks for letting me know that Luke's still having a hard time. Let's keep working together to be there for him."

Lily smiled. "Okay."

*****  
>As Holden drove in his pick-up out to Emma's, he called Luke, who picked up. "Hey son, I've got a favor to ask."<p>

"What's that, Dad?"

"I need to check the fences out at Mama's this afternoon and was wondering if you'd come help me. You used to love to do that, remember?"

Luke chuckled. "What's up, Dad? You haven't asked me to do that in, uh, a very long time."

"Do I need a reason to spend the afternoon with my son?"

"No." Luke hesitated. "You know, it is a nice day out and for once, I don't have any meetings this afternoon and I could use some fresh air. So yes, I'll take the rest of the day off and come meet you at Grandma's."

"Great! See you soon!" Holden hung up and smiled to himself.

*********  
>Carly was washing dishes in her kitchen when her teenage son, Parker, came barreling in. Carly was astonished, "Parker? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in school?"<p>

Cue: Closing credits


	2. Chapter 2

**SEPTEMBER 21, 2010 episode **

Parker looked surprised when he saw Carly. "Hi Mom," he stammered. "I forgot my chemistry book and came home to get it during my study break. And while I was here…"

Carly laughed. "You thought you'd help yourself to something? A snack, maybe?"

Parker blushed and smiled. "Yeah, something like that."

"What'll it be? Some brownies?" She pointed toward a cookie jar. "Something healthier like carrots? Celery?" She nodded her head toward the refrigerator.

Parker wrinkled his nose. "I think I'll stick with the brownies." He grabbed some out of the jar. "See you later, Mom."

"Ok, have a good rest of the day."

Parker rushed out through the living room where his girlfriend, Faith Snyder, was waiting, her eyes looking like they would pop out of her head. He grabbed her hand and pulled her outside onto the porch. She whispered, "What just happened?"

He whispered back, "My Mom's home!" They ran to get in Parker's car.

"Yeah, I know. I thought you said-"

"Well, I was wrong."

"What did you say?"

"I made something up about forgetting my textbook."

"And she bought that?"

"I don't know."

Faith rolled her eyes. "Let's get out of here." Parker started his car and took off.

******  
>Barbara ran into Metro, where she found her husband, Henry, their chef, Terri and others trying to mop up a flood of water behind the bar. She peered over and asked, "What's going on?"<p>

Terri said, "We're having problems with the plumbing again and a pipe seems to have burst."

Henry was surprisingly silent during all of this. Barbara looked at him while he avoided looking at her. "Henry?"

"Yes, dear?" He bent over and acted like he was scooping water from the floor and carrying it up to the sink with his bare hands.

"Didn't you call the plumber after we saw a little water last night?"

"Well, you see…"

"You didn't."

"No." He stood up and looked at her square in the eyes. "I'm sorry. I got busy with a few other things."

Barbara looked mildly irritated, but managed to paint on her fake smile. "Everything will be okay. I'll call the plumber now and get him over here. We need to get this mess fixed."

She whipped out her cellphone and dialed. "Hello. Jerry? Yes, it's Barbara Coleman, over at Metro. One of our pipes just burst. Can you send someone over right away?... You can? …. Wonderful! Thank you so much. Bye." She turned the phone off and her smile had disappeared. "They'll be here in ten minutes."

She began to storm off as Henry dropped what he was doing to follow her and beg. "Barbara. Baby. Please. Just listen to me. I'm sorry, sorry about all of this. That I forgot to call. Forgive me."

Barbara stopped without turning. Henry sidled up to her and nuzzled her hair. "Barbara," he whispered. "You can punish me later."

A ghost of a smile began to cross Barbara's lips. "Promise?"

He smiled. "Oh yes."

She turned and looked at him. "Good! Because you," she grabbed his collar and pulled on it, "are going to get the punishment you deserve."

He smiled and kissed her. "Whatever you say, darling."

She kissed him and then pushed him away. "Get back to work. I'll see you later." She kissed him on the cheek and he sighed, turning back to the watery mess.

******  
>Holden was walking along a fence line holding some rounds of regular and barbed wire in his work-gloved hand when he saw Luke approaching. He smiled. "Hey, I just got started, so you haven't missed much!"<p>

Luke laughed. "I'm relieved. I'd hate to think you got me all the way out here and then you were done."

"It's good to see you, son," Holden said as he clapped Luke on the back.

Luke smiled. "You too, Dad."

Holden looked at Luke and could see that Lily was right. In a quick glance, he could see dark bags under Luke's eyes and that his face looked much paler and thinner. "Everything okay with you? How are things?"

Luke just shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

They walked side by side down the fence line in silence. Holden didn't want to rush into any conversation with Luke because he seemed a little fragile. He knew if he just gave it time, things would begin to reveal themselves.

Luke finally opened up. "How's Faith, Dad? She hasn't come by the house lately."

Holden looked a little surprised. "Faith? She's fine, I guess. She's been busy with school. Now that she's a big junior." He smiled. "She thinks she's all grown up. Oh, and she's been busy with Parker. They see a lot of each other."

Luke thought about that for a while. "Are they serious?"

Holden shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think so. How serious can you be when you're sixteen?"

Luke looked at his father. "Dad? Really? At sixteen everything's serious!" He laughed and patted his father on his back.

Holden smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I tend to forget. Still, I don't think they're that serious. Not yet at least."

Luke thought about that as he nodded. "I think that's good. I mean, it's good to have a boyfriend, but she doesn't need to get too serious."

"I agree." Holden smiled at his son's concern for his sister. He knew it was tough on the kids, being split up between him and their mother, but Faith had opted to live with him at his mother's farm, not with Lily. Although he was old enough to be on his own, Luke was living with his mother in the meantime, helping out with his younger sister, Natalie and little brother, Ethan.

"And how about you and Mom? Any progress there?"

Holden was again surprised by Luke, but on second thought, he realized he shouldn't be. Luke always wanted people to be happy and he was convinced his parents needed to get back together. He'd had more than a few discussions with Holden on the topic, and Holden knew that he must speak about it often with Lily. However, Holden wasn't convinced that was the answer to their problems. There was a lot of water under the bridge, and they'd have to work hard to make their relationship viable again. "Your Mom and I, we're taking our time and getting along better these days. You know that we always try to put you kids first. That's one thing we definitely agree on."

Luke gave a long look to his father, who didn't flinch. Holden knew his son was wise beyond his years, but he didn't feel the need to confide in him about his relationship with Lily. At least he didn't right now.

Luke decided to let it go. They continued walking along the fence line. Holden turned and said, "How are you, son? Seems like I haven't seen you much lately."

"Oh, come on. It hasn't been that long. I was out here for Sunday lunch when we welcomed Grandma back home. That was little more than a week ago."

Holden laughed. "Okay, it just seems like a long time, to me at least. But you still haven't answered my question."

Luke sighed and then shrugged. "Busy." He was quiet for a moment. "You know, with Grimaldi, the Foundation and the wing, my days are pretty full."

"I know that, but how are you? Are you taking care of yourself?"

Luke looked at Holden. "Dad, did Mom put you up to this?"

Holden tried to look innocent. "What?"

Luke started to laugh. "She so did. Look at you. Dad, you couldn't lie if your life depended on it."

Holden sort of frowned as he looked down and stopped at a fence to check how well the wire was attached to the post. "She's worried about you. As am I. We don't see much of you. And when we do…"

Luke frowned and looked away. "I know. I don't say much." He looked at Holden. "I just don't have much to say these days, that's all." He shrugged his shoulders. "Right now I'm trying to figure out what in the world to do with Grimaldi Shipping."

"What do you mean?"

"I really don't know all the ins and outs of the business and now I'm head of the company? Damian always ran it. There's a lot to learn. Some days –" He stopped.

Holden looked at him, "Some days what?"

Luke looked down. "Some days I think I should sell it and get out now. I've had some offers. But I don't know what the proper valuation is for the company. That's what I've been trying to figure out." He stopped and looked at Holden, who halted to hear what Luke had to say. "And other days I feel like this is my company, my heritage, and I shouldn't screw it up. For all I know, Damian will get out of jail and want it back."

Holden couldn't look Luke in the face as he laughed. "That's _if_ he gets out. I wouldn't worry too much about that. I know you've got a good head on your shoulders. It will help direct you to the right decision for you." After all these years, it was still a point of pride with Holden that Luke always called him Dad, even though Damian was his biological father. Holden had been in Luke's life from the day he was born. He couldn't love him any more than if he was his biological son. Damian had been inconsistently in Luke's life, and the last few years had added to the turmoil in their lives. Earlier in the year, Damian had dumped his international shipping company on Luke while he was running from the law. Ever since then, Luke had been valiantly trying to run it.

Luke scratched behind his ear and then put his hands in his pockets. They began walking again. "It's taking away my time from the Foundation." Holden looked at him. "That's where my heart is, at the Foundation, Dad. It's mine, even though Grandmother helped me hire another executive director who helps raise funds and oversees all the administrative details."

"Well, if that's where your heart is, then that's where you should probably be."

Luke smiled. "In the meantime, I've been working a lot on the new wing. Things are going pretty well with it, I'm happy to report."

Holden saw the pride in Luke's eyes when he mentioned the neurological wing planning he was overseeing for Memorial Hospital. He knew that the wing had been an important reason that Luke's love, Reid Oliver, was originally lured to stay in Oakdale. Reid and Luke had begun the planning after the initial funds were secured. The two men fought over many details, and ended up falling in love. Holden kicked a rock out of the way as he thought about how painful it had been for Luke to lose his love, Reid, in a tragic accident when his car was hit by a train. It was only a little more than a month ago, and Luke's grief was still fresh.

"That's great, son. I'm sure Reid would be proud."

Luke looked down as he sighed. "I hope so, Dad. I think most of it will be to Reid's specifications and liking. But there were some details that have been worked out since….since…" He couldn't say it. "Since Reid last worked on it, and there were a few instances where I had to guess what Reid would've chosen." He frowned as he thought about it.

"I'm sure he's happy. Don't be so hard on yourself. You've managed to take this from a pipedream to a reality in a very short time while working other jobs and dealing with things in your personal life. Not too many people can do that successfully."

"Who says I'm doing them successfully?" Luke tried to joke, so Holden chuckled accordingly.

Holden put his arm around his son as they walked along. Luke pulled a little closer to his father, thankful for the physical contact that seemed to comfort him. "What's important is that you take care of yourself, Luke. I look at you and I'm a little worried."

"Dad –"

"No, let me finish. You look like you haven't been sleeping. You're not eating." He looked Luke in the face as they continued walking. "If you don't do something about it soon, I'll move you out to the farm and Mama will fatten you up."

Luke laughed. "Thanks." His head then bobbed down and his face grimaced.

"Luke, what is it?"

Luke bit his lip. "I don't know. I just had a thought." He sighed. "Reid would've loved Grandma's cooking. I can imagine the two of them getting along just great. Reid loved to eat and Grandma loves to cook."

"Sounds like a match made in heaven."

For some reason that made Luke laugh instead of cry and he put his arm around his Dad's waist as they continued walking. "Yeah, they would've, like Grandma always says, 'got on like a house on fire.'"

Holden laughed. They were dancing around the topic, so after a few moments, he finally asked, "How are you doing? About losing Reid? I know it's been tough." Luke just sort of nodded and didn't look at his father. Holden continued as he squeezed Luke's shoulder. "I can't imagine how hard it is for you." He sighed. "I wish there was more that I could do."

Luke looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "I know. I appreciate all that you and Mom and everyone have done to try to help me." He shrugged. "There's nothing really that you can do." He looked down. "I feel this big void in my life. Even now, I still feel numb some of the time. And it's really strange."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that - well, it's difficult to explain, except I don't feel him. I don't sense him. Nothing. It's as if Reid never existed. And then there's the other part of it. I mean, I've always believed that once you died, if you were good, your spirit lived on and you went to heaven. And if anyone was going there because of good deeds, it would be Reid Oliver. He was such a good person, he cared about all of his patients and he saved so many lives. But now, he's really gone and there is no more Reid. There's nothing. I don't know what to believe any more."

Holden hugged his shoulder. He could tell Luke was on the verge of breaking down. "His loss is still fresh. You need more time to grieve. And soon you'll realize that you have him around all the time, at least reminders of him. That'll help. Like the wing. You won't be able to look at that building and not think of him and of all the lives it's saving because of the work and dedication you both devoted to it. I can't think of a better testimony of someone's life."

Luke just kept looking down as he tried to keep from crying.

Holden then continued, "Just know that we all love you and we'll do anything, anything that you want or need. Just tell us. We're here for you. If you ever want to talk, just come to me. And if you don't want to talk, just let me know and I'll be there." Luke didn't respond. "I know it's difficult. I always remember what Mama kept saying after Papa died. She kept quoting, 'This too shall pass.' I don't know if that helps you, but it seemed to bring her some comfort."

They continued walking. Luke finally broke the silence. "That's where work is good, it keeps my mind busy instead of thinking about losing Reid all the time. But I know that I can't go on like this forever and I know that I won't. The wing will get started, and then it will be mostly out of my hands. Then I'll make a decision about Grimaldi. And I'll always have the Foundation."

"Yeah, but I don't hear anything about Luke having a good time, enjoying himself. You need to build in time for that, even if it's just to blow off steam. You've put yourself under a lot of pressure."

Luke half-smiled at his father's concern. "I'm fine. Really. I'm not in the mood for that kind of thing these days."

Holden countered, "Once the ground gets broken on the wing, maybe you should take some time off. Go somewhere. Get away from here. Visit Aaron in Seattle or Cal in Texas. Go to Europe. Remember when you talked about backpacking around France, Italy and Greece when you were in high school?"

Luke smiled and nodded. "I hadn't thought about it, but right now it sounds like a good idea. I haven't been anywhere in ages. I don't know where I'd go. Maybe to all those places and more."

Holden smiled. This is how he wanted to see his son, at least a little interested about something in his life. "Why not? I know that your brother and your great-granddad would be tickled pink if you dropped in on them."

But the idea already seemed to be slipping away from Luke's attention. "Yeah," he said half-heartedly. "Maybe that's something I'll do."

They kept walking until they found where the barbed wire had come off the fencepost. Lately Holden had run a strand of barbed wire above the fence in the pastures, to encourage the cows to give up leaping like gazelles over it.

Luke helped hold the wire as Holden cut and fastened it. Luke finally spoke up, "Dad, the wing is really underway these days. We've received so many more donations than I could ever imagine."

Holden smiled and looked up at Luke as he worked away. "That's great!"

Luke continued, "The ground-breaking ceremony looks like it will be moved up and scheduled for early November before winter sets in. Do you think you can make it? I'm going to ask Mom, too."

Holden smiled and stopped. "Of course I'll be there." He looked down and just then the wire snapped out of his hand and when flying through the air, slashed his wrist in a deep cut that drew a rivulet of blood. "Damn it!" He tried to staunch the flow of blood, but it was too strong.

Luke tried to help. "Gee, that's a really deep cut, Dad. I think you better get someone to look at it. You might need a couple of stitches. Where'd you get this wire from?"

"Down at the farm supply store." It was sunny and warm, so Holden took off his shirt, leaving his t-shirt on, and wrapped his wrist in the shirt, which soon became soaked with his blood. "I guess you're right."

"I'll take you to the Emergency Room."

The two men headed toward Holden's pick-up truck.

(Tune in again for the next episode of "As the World Turns")


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Special thanks to teddybear9298, my beta. Also thanks to those who read and comment._

**Episode 3: Wednesday, September 22**

A nurse escorted Luke and Holden, who was still holding his wrist wrapped in his blood-soaked shirt, into an empty room in the E.R.

"Just have a seat, Mr. Snyder. We've got quite a crowd here today, but someone will be over to take care of you soon." She smiled as she left.

"I wonder how long it will be?" Holden said as he sat down on the bed.

"Like she said, there are several people here, so it might take awhile. While we wait, can I get you something from the cafeteria, Dad? How about something to drink?"

Holden frowned and then sighed. "I guess so."

Luke smiled. "Some pop?"

"Sure."

"Ok, I'll be back in a little bit."

Luke left Holden on his own. He rode the elevator down to the cafeteria level and bumped into Dr. Ben Harris as he moved to get off.

Ben flashed a warm smile. "Luke! It's great to see you!"

Luke was startled, but managed to smile. "Hey, Ben. Good to see you too. Are you here visiting? Last I heard you were in Philadelphia."

"I lived there for several years, but I've been back here for a little while now. Bob Hughes called me about a month ago to fill in on a temporary basis in the neurology department."

"Oh." Luke tried to keep his voice up in order to mask the pain that pierced his heart. He knew why Bob had called Ben. With Reid's death, they were short one neurosurgeon at Memorial. The doors moved to close but popped back open when they bumped on Luke's body. He managed to say, "Hey, it's great to see you. I've got to run, but next time I want to hear about what Curtis is up to." He stepped out.

He heard Ben say, "Ok!" as his smile disappeared behind the closing doors. Taking a deep breath, Luke turned and entered the cafeteria.

Luke walked over to the beverage station and as he picked up two cans of pop, someone tapped him on the back of his shoulder. He turned around to see Dr. John Dixon in his white coat, holding a cup of coffee.

"Luke, good to see you. I just had lunch with your lovely grandmother."

Luke smiled. "That's great, John. I'm so glad you two are together. She looks happy every time I see her."

John's smile was dazzling. "Ah, I'm so glad to hear you say that." He then became serious. "And why are you here? Everything all right with your kidney?"

"It's nothing like that. I brought Dad into the E.R. He has a nasty cut on his wrist. We were out working on the fences when he got a deep cut from a wire, so I brought him in to get some stitches."

"Well, I'm glad it's nothing more serious."

"Me too." Luke decided to bring up what was on his mind. "Hey, I just ran into Ben Harris. He said he's here on a temporary basis."

"Yes, Bob brought him back." John hesitated, then put his arm around Luke's shoulder. "I've asked him to stay longer because I need an experienced neurosurgeon here while we try to figure out what we're going to do with the neurology department."

"What do you mean, 'what we're going to do with the neurology department?'"

John snorted in frustration as he realized he was digging himself into a hole. "I know it's been hard for you losing Dr. Oliver. We miss him too. But we also have to make sure that our patients get the best treatment. When I took over as interim chief of staff, I was given the charge of evaluating all the departments, neurology being one of them."

Luke tried to remain calm. "That makes sense, but it sounds like –"

John waved his hand. "I know what it sounds like, and I'm sorry. Reid had very definite ideas about how he wanted to structure the department, especially with the new wing opening up."

"Yes," Luke waited for a bomb to drop.

"But the truth is, Luke," John hesitated before plowing ahead. "Some of the staff who were going to join us aren't so interested now that they can't work for Dr. Oliver. Unless I find another world-class neurosurgeon to come in and take over, we're probably going to have to rethink a few things. I'm sorry, Luke. I didn't want to tell you this, especially here, in the cafeteria, but I think the sooner you know, the better."

Luke's heart constricted. "You're not stopping the wing, are you?"

John laughed. "Oh no. Never. First off, your grandmother would hand me my head on a platter. Second, you've overseen the funding, which has been very successful. The pledges have been fulfilled."

Luke relaxed a little.

"But if I can get someone else of Reid's caliber to join us, they will probably have some tweaks that they'll want to make to the program."

"Of course." Luke realized that anyone at Reid's level would likely be just as stubborn and opinionated as he was.

John patted Luke on the back, glad to see that Luke's anxiety level had apparently dropped and perhaps this wasn't going to be as bad as he thought. "I knew you'd understand. That's one of the many balls I've been juggling in the past few weeks. Right now we're going through an audit of our processes and procedures here at the hospital and it's been turning up all sorts of things that need to be improved. We'll set up an educational training program to address various concerns." He seemed to sense Luke's urge to escape. "I won't bore you further. We'll be discussing this and many more things at the next hospital board meeting."

Luke was relieved to get away from John. He had mixed emotions about what he had heard and he needed to sort them out. But first, he needed to get back to Holden and see if anyone had attended to him yet.

"I'd better get back to Dad."

"Of course." As John started to walk away, he turned and said, "You should come over some night for dinner with your grandmother and me."

"I will. Give her a kiss from me, ok?" Luke took off for the elevator. As he waited for it, Nurse Gretchen Taylor, who used to work with Reid, joined him.

"Hi Gretchen, how are you?"

Gretchen, a shy, retiring young woman had been terrified of Reid and often cried if he even looked at her a certain way. "Hi, Luke, I'm fine." Her face twisted. "I'm sorry about Dr. Oliver. I know you two were close."

"Thanks, Gretchen."

Although it had been a month, it was still difficult to talk about Reid with anyone who wasn't in his family or circle of friends. However, this was his first time back in the hospital since that terrible day, other than going to the executive offices to discuss the new wing. He knew he had to come here sooner or later and get this over with.

Thankfully the elevator ride was short and Luke got off at the E.R. When he and Holden had arrived here a little while ago, he had been so busy with his father that he didn't really think about where he was. But now that he was alone, he felt overwhelmed with emotions while seeing where Reid was wheeled in from an ambulance and in a matter of what seemed like a few minutes, had passed away. Luke walked down a secluded corridor and leaned against the wall as the memories of that day flashed through his mind. He remembered Reid's broken body and bruised face, as he was rushed in to the E.R. and how the doctors had said that he had no chance to survive. Luke covered his face as he thought about how, even when he was dying, Reid was still helping those in need by donating his heart. Luke could feel tears burning his eyes. He wrapped his arms around himself then shook his head. He needed to compose himself and get going. He decided to give himself a few minutes for the tears to dry and the sniffles to stop before he went back to Holden.

Meanwhile, Holden was getting antsy. He could hear a little girl crying and a woman's voice softly comforting her. After a few minutes, he began to realize that he recognized the voice. He stood up and walked out of the room. He soon spotted where the sounds were coming from and stuck his head in a nearby room.

"Emily, is everything okay?"

Emily Stewart Snyder Munson Hughes Ryan was holding her step-daughter, Eliza, in her arms and trying to soothe the crying toddler. Emily was startled to hear her ex-husband's voice. "Holden? What are you doing here? Everything okay?"

Holden smiled. "I just asked you that." He held up his arm. "I'm waiting for stitches. How's Eliza?" He walked into the room.

She held Eliza closely. "She's been running a high fever and I can't get it down. Chris is our pediatrician and –"

Holden nodded. Dr. Chris Hughes was still recovering from his heart transplant a month ago. The heart that had come from Dr. Reid Oliver, who as he was dying, volunteered to become Chris's heart donor. Chris was still recuperating at home and had not returned to work.

Emily continued. "Mom is out of town at a medical conference. She'll be back tonight. In the meantime, Paul thought I should bring her in."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." He ran his hand lightly over the top of his niece's head. His sister, Meg, was the mother, but she had lost custody of Eliza to Paul, Emily's husband. There had been a lot of tension between the families that had died down when Meg was hospitalized for mental anguish. He knew that Meg had recently been released and was visiting family in another part of the country, but Holden could predict a storm would roll in when she returned to Oakdale. He hoped that Eliza wouldn't get caught up in the middle of it.

Paul Ryan came in the room. "I just spoke with a nurse. Someone will be here in a minute." He looked at Holden holding his arm. "What happened to you?"

"I was working on a fence and I got slashed by some wire. I just need a few stitches."

Paul nodded. "I don't know what's going on around here, but there must be some reason they're responding so slowly."

Just then a Nurse approached. "Mr. and Mrs. Ryan?"

"Yes," responded Paul.

Holden looked at them. "I better be going." He patted Eliza's head, which was resting on Emily's shoulder. "Get better soon."

He walked back to his room, holding his arm, and sat down. He was beginning to wonder where Luke was, when he realized Luke had probably run into several people he knew and was chatting with them. Holden settled in for a wait, when he heard a man yelling. His curiosity got the better of him, so he peeked out from his room to see who was carrying on. It was Dr. John Dixon, red in the face, shouting on a cell phone.

"I don't give a damn what those inspectors think!"

Holden lingered as he heard John's side of the conversation. "And to hell with them too! Look, I wasn't even chief of staff at that time! How would I know? ….That's fine. They can look all they want. I'm not trying to stop them, but I am -…Oh that." John disappeared down a nearby corridor.

Holden frowned and sat back down in his room. He smiled when Luke came in, carrying a can of Holden's favorite pop. "Hey look, Dad," Luke said proudly, "they actually have grape pop here. I got some orange for me."

"Thanks." Holden smiled. He and Luke hadn't drunk this kind of soda pop together since Luke was about 12 or 13 years old and they would have them after one of Luke's baseball games. It took Holden back to simpler and happier times in their lives.

Luke looked out the window of the room toward the nurses' station. "I think I'm going to see how much longer it's going to be. You're still bleeding too much, Dad."

* * *

><p>Barbara walked into Metro and started down the stairs. She could see her husband and other people leaning over, huddled behind the bar. "Henry? How's it going?"<p>

Henry popped up. "Barbara, STOP!"

Barbara froze on the stairs.

Henry continued. "We've now got a few inches of water in the kitchen and it's coming out here. Stay put, or you'll get your feet wet."

"What happened?"

"Besides a burst pipe, Jerry the plumber thinks it has to do with the hook-up of the bar sink here or something or another." He threw his hands up in the air like he didn't know what he was talking about.

"What can he do?"

Jerry got up from under the bar and stood up. "_He_ still has to figure out the cause for the leak before _he_ can tell you what _he _can do to fix it. It might take a while. But I will say that your pipes are in pretty bad shape."

"Thank you, Jerry." Barbara tried to give him an understanding smile, but she was worried. "Do you think this will interrupt our dinner business this evening?"

Jerry shrugged. "It might, but it's hard to say. Give me a little more time, okay?" He bent back over and consulted with Henry and two other men, who were crouched down, looking at the pipes under the counter.

Barbara looked at the floor and decided she didn't want to ruin her designer shoes, but she also didn't want to leave her husband in such a tight spot, so she sat down on a step. "Is there anything I can do?"

Henry stood up and gave her a smile. "Sweetheart, I wish you could." He sighed. "But Jerry here is our best bet. So sit tight."

"Where's Terri?"

"She's dealing with everything in the kitchen. I have to give her word in the next hour or two if dinner is still on for this evening." He looked dispirited. "If it's not, then we have to close down until we get this fixed."

"Do you think it will be cleaned up by tomorrow? You know we've got Aunt Kim and Uncle Bob's going away party scheduled for tomorrow night."

Henry moved his head around like he didn't know which way to move it. "I'm not sure, sweetums. I hope so, but right now, I can't guarantee it."

"You're kidding, right? They're leaving for Arizona and their new home this weekend. We can't postpone the party."

Henry's lips moved around before he finally said, "Well, let's cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Henry! We can't wait until the last minute to figure this out!"

"Well, maybe we can move it….somewhere else?"

Barbara pulled out her phone. "I'll call Lisa. Hopefully she can take us at the Lakeview, if needed."

Barbara smiled at Henry, trying to look encouraging, but he grimaced, then bent back over and was trying to catch what Jerry was saying under the sink. She looked at the ring on her ring and played with it while she waited for Lisa to pick up.

"Lisa, hi, it's Barbara…I have a favor to ask you. Yes…We're having plumbing problems here at Metro and you know Bob and Kim's party is scheduled for tomorrow night. It looks like we'll have to close tonight while it's being repaired. So, if we can't get it fixed before tomorrow evening, could we move it to the Lakeview?" Barbara played with her hair as she listened to Lisa. She finally smiled. "Thank you, thank you, my friend. I really appreciate it. What's the latest you need to know?...Okay. If we have to go with this plan, I'll send Terri and all the preparations over to you and we'll continue on, just like we would if we were here. Thank you!" She hung up and sighed with relief. She tapped the phone with her red fingernail. "This party has got to be a success."

* * *

><p>A young attractive blonde woman wearing a white coat came into Holden's room where both Luke and Holden were sitting. She glanced down at her chart. "Mr. Snyder? I'm Dr. Rafkin. Let's see that arm."<p>

Holden held his arm out and she unwrapped it. She looked and said, "That's a deep cut, but we'll have you stitched up in no time and out of here."

Holden finally smiled. "That's what I wanted to hear."

Luke smiled as he studied the woman. "Dr. Rafkin, you must be new here. I'm Luke Snyder."

She glanced at Luke and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Luke. And yes, I just started my residency at Memorial with a rotation here in the E.R." She began to prepare Holden's wound. "Don't worry though. I am an excellent seamstress."

That made Holden laugh. "Then I know I'm in good hands here."

* * *

><p>Chris was sitting on the couch in the living room, watching "The Cost is Good," when Katie burst through the front door with Jacob in his stroller. "Hi, honey! Did you miss us?" she perkily called out.<p>

Chris managed a half-hearted, "Hi."

Katie scurried around, pulled a sleeping Jacob out of the stroller and carried him upstairs and laid him down in his crib for a nap, put her shopping away and then came back and sat down beside Chris. He sighed, then pointed the remote at the tv and turned it off.

"You didn't have to do that," said Katie.

"It's better this way, believe me. I thought Crew Darey was better in his sitcom." He tossed the remote on the side table. "I'm just wasting time. You know, there used to be better things on at this time but they cancelled them for game shows and other crap like that." He pouted.

Katie was silent for a moment and then she turned to Chris. "I'm getting a little concerned about you."

Chris became defensive. "Hey, it's tough sitting around every day. I'm used to doing more. A lot more."

"Well, it won't be like this forever."

"I know."

"It's just that I come home and you're like a zombie. You sit and watch tv all day and you're grumpy." She tried to mimic his facial expression to get him to smile, but he wasn't cooperating. She sighed. "I think it's kind of serious, Chris."

"Ka-tie!"

She grabbed his hand and held it. He frowned. "Chris, you still haven't gotten clearance to get back to work, any kind of work. You need to rest. Relax. I know you're bored out of your mind-"

"Tell me about it."

"But it's important you get well and strong. That way when you become chief of staff at Memorial –" She stopped because of the look on his face.

"I don't know. Is that what I really want? To be like my father? Chief of staff?"

"Of course you do. You've wanted it for months. You and Reid –"

"Reid. Why do you always bring him up? Now there's a guy who would have been a lousy chief of staff."

"Oh come on, you don't know that. And besides, don't speak ill of the dead."

"You know, I was watching this show the other day with people who'd had all of kinds of transplants. And some of them said that they changed after they had someone else's body part in them. They became more like the donor." He shivered. "Does that mean I'll become an asshole like Oliver?" Katie playfully slapped his arm. He continued, "I hope not." He couldn't help but smile.

She was trying not to laugh as she put up her hands. "Stop. He was my good friend. He was a good man and –"

"And I'd be lucky to be him? He's dead."

Katie threw a pillow at him.

He put up his hands. "Okay, I know, I know. I should be grateful that I have his ticker keeping me going." He motioned to his chest. "But come on, let's face it. He was a obnoxious son of a gun."

Katie, who was frowning, decided to change course and keep it light rather than get into an argument. "Listen, I get it. You're bored. Probably a little depressed. You're stuck here. Your parents are moving to their dream retirement home in Arizona –"

"I do not envy them. I bet Dad goes crazy within two months after playing golf non-stop and will be back here before Christmas."

"That's not exactly what I was getting at. What I'm trying to say is that all of this won't last forever. Just try to be patient."

He frowned. "I'm not a patient person."

Katie narrowed her eyes. "Maybe you are getting to be more like Reid." Then she burst into giggles. "He always said patience wasn't his strong suit."

Chris sighed loudly as he wiped his brow and leaned back on the couch.

"Are you feeling okay?" Katie became concerned.

"A little sluggish, that's all."

"At your check-up tomorrow with John, maybe he'll lighten up a little bit and let you do more."

"I can only hope." Chris didn't look convinced.

"Maybe we should move the check-up to another day. I mean, with the big party tomorrow night and all –"

"Katie, I want to see John, no, I need to see him for my own sanity, if nothing else. I'm hoping this house arrest will soon be over. And I'm going to the party, come hell or high water."

She frowned. "We'll see about that."

* * *

><p>Dr. Rafkin finished stitching and placed a butterfly bandaid over the wound. "Now, be careful. Try not to get it wet or dirty, especially the first few days. The stitches will come out on their own, but I'd still like you to check back in with me in about a week since this was a fairly nasty cut." She noticed the look of concern on Luke's face. "Don't worry though. It's just a precaution."<p>

Holden stood up and smiled. "Thanks, Dr. Rafkin. It's been a pleasure."

She smiled back at him. "I wish all my cases were this pleasant and easy to resolve. See you in about a week, Mr. Snyder."

"Yes, ma'am."

She left the room. Luke studied his father for a moment before he grabbed Holden's good arm and said, "Come on, let's get out of here! We have to show Grandma what we've been up to all afternoon." Holden laughed as they walked out of the room.


End file.
